I have to re-ballast an area of the layout, and I'm curious how those people who weather or color their ballast do it. Do you:
I'd also be interested in hearing what people use for color or stains - acrylics? latex paint? India ink?
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Just my opinion but, I'm not so sure that "those people" do anything to their ballast. I know, I purchased the ballast color that I wanted, by mixing various grays and small amounts of black, from Woodland Scenics. Also, Brennan's offers many, many, many, different grades & colors of ballast, so nobody should have to "color/stain" any of their ballast.
There was an article in OGR by Jim Polecastro on how he colored his ballast in his yard once it was down.
The pictures in the article may be on the forum someplace.
I try not to use one color of ballast to begin with. I mix medium gray, dark gray and a little bit of black.
Then I make a thin, dark, super-watery-wash using acrylic craft paint and brush it over my ballast once it's dry. Don't be too fussy with it. Brush it along the sides with long strokes.
The wash takes that uniform color of the blast and gives it a more dirty and random look.
The color I use is a combination of black (75%) and burnt-umber. (25%) Don't use the alcohol / india ink trick because the alcohol can dissolve the matte-medium or white-glue you used to hold the ballast down.
Get a piece of scrap track, glue up some ballast and experiment. Give it a shot.
As Rich883 said, at one time I decided that I should have gone for a black "cindered" look in my large yard instead of a lighter earth tone. I was able successfully to make the change using nearly full-strength flat black latex paint just painted on with a 2" brush.
Before:
After:
For a more subtle color change, you can add some dilute latex paint to your glue mix, a trick Dennis Brennan first mentioned here on the forum and in his ballast literature.
You can also use a thin latex paint wash after the ballast is dry as Rich T said. Everything (ties, rail, and ballast) is subject to the same weathering conditions, so one element should not stand out too much from the others. The wash ties everything together in color as in this photo.
Jim
Add it to a jar containing an ink/alcohol mixture, cover, shake, strain, and lay it out to dry.
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